Your Questions Answered

A question was received regarding certain texts in the Old Testament:

In several places we read the words “own land,” such as in Exodus 18:27, Numbers 10:30, 2 Kings 19:7, etc. Does this have the same meaning in all these texts?

In Exodus 18:27 it says, “And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.” Here “own land” means the land of division, which is the country of his kindred and of his origin.

Numbers 10:30 reads, “And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred.” Again Moses’ father in law says that he will go to his native country, his relatives there, and his father’s house.

In 2 Kings 19:7 we read, “Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” Almost the exact words are repeated in Isaiah 37:7. Here the Lord says that He will cause the king of Assyria to return to his own land, and there he would fall by the sword. Again, this refers to the land from which he came.

Considering these explanations, we can say indeed that the meaning in all of these texts is similar. “Own land” refers to the land of birth, of kindred, and of origin. How important it is to know what the land of our birth is spiritually, the land of our nativity, where our father was an Amorite and our mother a Hittite (Ezekiel 16:3). How necessary by grace to become a pilgrim, a stranger on the way to a better, that is, a heavenly land, the land of our new birth, Canaan!

Another question received was the following:

How do the attributes of God relate to the efficacy of the atonement, especially in relation to the doctrine of particular redemption?

God’s perfections are God Himself as He has revealed Himself unto us. These are essential qualities, and each one of them reveals to us some aspect of the Being of God. God in them has revealed Himself. The moving cause of the atonement is in the good pleasure of God. Christ Himself is the fruit of this good pleasure, as the prophet says in Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”

Paul has said in Galatians 1:4, “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” This good pleasure of God to save sinners by a substitutionary atonement was founded in the love and justice of God. His love provided a way of escape for lost sinners. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

His justice required that this way should be of such a nature as to meet the demands of the law, in order for Romans 3:26 “to declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Our fathers’ confession in the Canons of Dordt (11,3) states: “The death of the Son of God is the only and most perfect sacrifice and satisfaction for sin, and is of infinite worth and value, abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world.” Thus it is clear that there is enough power in the atoning blood of Christ to save the whole world. Sometimes our old writers said that it was enough for a thousand worlds. This was said to indicate the infinite and sufficient value of it. After all, Christ’s sacrifice is the work of the eternal God.

However, the Canons also teach in the 8th article of that head, “For this was the sovereign counsel, and most gracious will and purpose of God the Father, that the quickening and saving efficacy of the most precious death of His Son should extend to all the elect, for bestowing upon them alone the gift of justifying faith, thereby to bring them infallibly to salvation.” In other words, the application of the atonement is limited to the elect. Only for them is Christ’s satisfaction efficient.

The designs of God are always sure and efficacious, and they cannot be frustrated by the actions of men. His intentions and His purpose could not have been frustrated by the unbelief of man. Scripture does not teach us of such a helpless God, unable to accomplish His purpose. Christ died for His sheep, His people, His elect. His almighty power, His faithfulness, and His unchangeableness guarantee the fulfillment of His purposes.

Predestination, thus including the limited atonement of the particular redemption, flows forth from the sovereign, free, good pleasure of God. He works all things after the counsel of His will. This election is gracious, for there is no merit in man. It is unchangeable, for God is immutable. It is a wise decree, because God ordained the means to accomplish His end. It is omniscient and omnipotent, for God knows everything and everyone, and He is the Almighty, doing whatsoever He pleases. No elect shall ever perish, even though they may fear a thousand times that this shall happen.

This election, and thus the particular redemption as well as the reprobation of the wicked, is also most just, for God must punish evil. The reprobate will suffer this punishment eternally in hell, but the Surety has suffered it for His own. He took their place. It is His sovereignty by which He has elected some out of the human race to eternal salvation. He has mercy on whom He will have mercy (Romans 9:15).

It is therefore a particular redemption, the redemption of those whom the apostle in 1 Peter 1:2 calls “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Christ also testifies of this sovereignty in John 17:6, “I have manifested Thy Name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world: Thine they were, and Thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy Word.”

The Holy Spirit is also sovereign in His saving operations, which are confined to the elect. He guides them into all truth; they are the ones whom He comforts.

Arthur Pink wrote a book about the sovereignty of God, which I highly recommend to be read. There are also very important instructions about divine predestination to be found in the First Head of Doctrine (together with the rejection of errors) in our Canons of Dordt. May this sovereign God, by grace, be our only Hope and Refuge.

Questions may be sent to Rev. Vogelaar at 729 Willow Run, Wyckoff, New Jersey 07481.

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